The Mysterious Youth
by Norkix
Summary: Anju is puzzled by the young boy who walks into the Stock Pot Inn one afternoon. Not only is he armed, but he is also all alone. Curious and a little concerned, she decides to find out exactly who he is, and why he is so reluctant to talk about his past. Oneshot. Minutely AU because I completely forgot about Tatl. Rating is for one instance of strong language.


Anju looked up as the door to the Stock Pot Inn opened once more, hastily storing the letter she had just received in the desk. A boy stepped through the threshold, no more than eleven years old. He was dressed in a green tunic and sturdy, well-worn leather boots. Untidy blonde hair poked out from underneath a green pointed cap. The way he carried himself, he was clearly exhausted. However, what stuck out most to Anju was the sword strapped over the boy's shoulder. What kind of young boy was he to be armed in a civilized town like this?

"Good afternoon," said the boy, approaching the desk.

"Good afternoon, and welcome to the Stock Pot Inn," replied Anju automatically. "Um…" She looked down at the reservation book in front of her. "Do you…. have a reservation?"

"Yes," he said. "My name is Link."

Anju ran a finger down the page until she found the correct entry. "Ah! Here you are, Mr. Link. Your room is our 'Knife Chamber.'" She pulled the key from the desk. "Here you are, second door on the right up the stairs."

"Thank you very much," Link said politely, taking the key. He started to walk away.

Something about the boy bothered Anju. During the entire exchange, he had not made eye contact with her, and she was still perturbed by the fact that he was armed, and even more strange, alone. She almost let it go, but just as he was about to turn onto the staircase, she called after him, "Wait!"

Link stopped and looked back at her, making eye contact at last. His eyes were the deepest blue Anju had ever seen, and they seemed to show a maturity far beyond what his appearance suggested. "Yes?" he asked, obviously confused.

It suddenly occurred to Anju that she did not know what she wanted to ask, and how to ask it without being rude. After a few seconds, she found herself blurting out, "Who are you? Where are your parents? Why in the name of the Guardians do you have a sword?"

The boy sighed. "Again with the parents thing," he muttered, obviously annoyed. "Look, I'm… I'm an orphan. I come from… from somewhere very far away. I have a sword because… Well, how else am I supposed to defend myself? As for who I am…" He paused for a second, his mouth open but no sound came out. He clearly wanted to say something, but was struggling with it. Eventually, he said simply, "My name is Link." And with that, he vanished up the staircase.

Anju stared after him, unsure of what to do. She didn't think he meant any harm, but his vague answer about who he was only raised more questions. For the rest of the day, she wondered about him. Perhaps it was just because he had mentioned he was an orphan, but she felt concern for him. It was clear that he was uncomfortable talking about his past, but Anju could not suppress her curiosity. When the Stock Pot Inn closed at eight thirty, she went to the kitchen and prepared a small dinner (forgetting in her curiosity that her cooking was horrendous), which she took up to Link's room.

In her eagerness to find out more about Link, she forgot to knock. When she unlocked the door, she found Link sprawled upon the bed, fast asleep. It seemed he had fallen asleep immediately after entering the room, for he was still fully dressed and his sword was still strapped to his back. Anju set the plate of food down on the sidetable and looked down at him. His eyes were shut tightly, and his mouth slightly open. Impulsively, she reached down and touched his shoulder, intending to wake him up.

Immediately, Link rolled off the bed and landed catlike on his feet in a defensive position, hand flying to his sword. Startled by his reaction, Anju let out a small shriek and jumped backward slightly. Link stared at her for a moment with his piercing blue eyes before relaxing. There was an awkward silence.

"Um… I – I brought you dinner," stammered Anju, picking up the plate once more and showing it to him.

He sighed and held a hand to his head. "Thank you," he said. "I'm sorry for startling you. I'm not usually awakened by anything… pleasant." He took the plate from Anju and sat down with it on the bed, though he didn't touch the food right away.

Anju sat down on the bed across from him. "I'm… sorry for waking you, but… I…" She hesitated. Link gave her a questioning look. "It's strange… but I feel this compulsion to know more about you." She smiled nervously. "It's not every day an orphaned boy with a sword walks through your door, after all."

Link's eyes hardened. "I… I realize that, but… I don't really feel comfortable talking about who I am." He took a bite of food, suppressed a gag and swallowed forcefully, producing a loud _gulp_.

"But why?" Link remained silent. "What makes talking about your past so difficult?" Anju pressed. "Did you lose someone precious to you? Have you done something you regret? Did you-"

"It's none of your fucking business!" Link yelled, rising to his feet. The plate, which had been sitting on his lap, fell to the floor and smashed, scattering the food across the floor. Once again, Anju was shocked by his reaction. Link sat back down on the bed, burying his face in his hands. "I'm sorry," he said. "But even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

There was a long silence. Anju noticed that Link was now shaking slightly, and realized that he was crying. Her maternal instincts took over, and she stood up, crossed over to him, sat down next to him and put an arm around him. He immediately pulled away, but she persisted. When he had calmed down, he wiped his eyes and looked up at her.

"Please," she said, "tell me what happened. If you keep it bottled up inside, it will only become more and more of a burden."

Link was silent for several seconds. "I know you won't believe me. You'll think me a lunatic and throw me out on the street."

"Try me," Anju said. "I've heard some tall tales in my day. I think I know whether or not I can believe something, thank you very much."

Link sighed. "I'm… Well, I suppose you could call me a time traveler." Anju tried to suppress laughter, letting out a sound somewhere between a cough and a snort. "I told you that you wouldn't believe me."

"No, I'm sorry," said Anju sincerely. "Please, continue."

And Link did. He began with a description of a magical relic called the Triforce before launching into his story. He told her of how he had set out from his forest home with his fairy companion to find a princess, of how he had conspired with the princess to stop a man named Ganondorf from obtaining the Triforce, and of his exploits to retrieve the three Spiritual Stones needed to open the door to the Sacred Realm. He told her of how his pulling a sword, the Master Sword he called it, out of a pedestal caused his spirit to be sealed for seven years and allowed Ganondorf to obtain the Triforce. He told her of the damage Ganondorf wrought during the seven years and of how he labored through five temples to free sages that would aid him in casting Ganondorf down. He told her at great length of a farm girl with whom he had fallen in love, and of how he had promised to marry her if he was successful in saving the world. He told her of how he stormed Ganondorf's castle and rescued the princess, and of how he defeated Ganon and how the princess and the six sages sealed Ganondorf away.

Here he stopped. He had been talking for more than an hour now, and at first Anju thought the pause was because he was getting tired. But then she saw that the hurt in his eyes had returned.

"After Ganondorf was sealed away, Zelda… Zelda sent me back in time… Said that I had the right to regain the time I had lost." He looked at Anju, anger burning in his eyes. "She took everything from me. All the work I put in to saving the land, to renewing the people's hope and… and… and Malon…." His voice broke when he said her name. "She took away my relationship with the girl I loved. And on top of that, Navi abandoned me without a word. She didn't even say goodbye." There were tears in Link's eyes again as he fell silent.

Anju looked down at him with a mixture of awe and sympathy. He had been through so much, yet he was still so young. And though his story was fit to be a fable or even a legend, she had no doubt that he was telling the truth.

"Why didn't you stay?" she asked at last. "I'm sure you could have rebuilt your relationship with Malon eventually."

"It wouldn't have been the same," said Link bitterly. "I couldn't bear to look at her, knowing that just a short while ago, we had been engaged, and now, we were just childhood friends again." He looked up at her once more. "Being older changed me, too. I'm not a child anymore, even though I look it. I know you see it, too. You always notice it."

"What?" asked Anju, now very confused. "What do you mean, I always notice it? We haven't met before today."

Link laughed. "You haven't met me before today, but I've met you. The explanation behind that is even crazier than the story I just told you."

Anju chuckled as well. "I think I've had enough crazy for one night," she said.

Link laughed again. "I'm sure you have."

"But," continued Anju, "I'm still confused as to why you left. Surely you could have found some other girl to court?"

Link's expression turned somber once more. "I suppose so, but… The reason I left was because I wanted to find Navi. As much as I loved Malon, Navi had been the closest thing to a mother I ever had. And she was more than that, she was my best friend and I… I had grown so used to her being there that when she left without even saying goodbye… I need closure."

Anju nodded. "I can understand that." She stood and stretched, stiff from sitting on the bed for so long. "Well, I suppose I've kept you up rather late," she said, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"I don't mind," said Link. "And you were right: I do feel better now that I've told someone my story."

They talked for a few more minutes before Anju left to get a broom. After cleaning up the plate and food, she tucked Link into bed. As she left the room, they bade each other good night.

As Anju settled into her own bed, her mind whirled with thoughts about Link and his story. She decided she would never forget him as long as she lived.

_**Weak ending is weak, but I'm tired so… That's really the best I can do, and I'm sorry. I'm really not satisfied with the ending, and uploading it like this is probably very unprofessional, as is admitting the flaw. -_-**_

_**Nonetheless, thank you for reading! Please leave a review, I'd like to know your thoughts. This is only my second oneshot, so I'm not sure I've gotten the knack for it yet. If I've piqued your interest, please feel free to check out my other stories! I'm a sucker for feedback XD**_

_**Once again, thank you for reading.**_

_**-Norkix-**_


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